In Goa, the Brahmins were originally engaged in the priestly occupation, but had taken up various occupations like agriculture, trade, goldsmithy, etc. The origins of this particular caste can be traced back to the Christianisation of the Velhas Conquistas that was undertaken by the Portuguese during the 16th and 17th centuries. It was during this period that the Jesuit, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries converted many Brahmins to Christianity. The first mass conversions took place among the Brahmins of Divar, and the Kshatriyas of Carambolim. In his Oriente conquistado a Jesu Christo pelos padres da Companhia de Jesus da Provincia de Goa, Portuguese Jesuit priest, Fr. Francisco de Sousa gives an account of the mass conversions of Brahmins in Divar: All converts from Brahmin sub-castes such as the Goud Saraswat Brahmins, Padyes, Daivadnyas, etc., were lumped into the Christian caste of Bamonn. Since the conversions of Brahmins of a particular area became instrumental in the conversions of members of other castes, such converts were highly valued and esteemed by the church and Portuguese authorities alike. They were even allowed to wear the Yajnopavita and other caste markings by special dispensation of Pope Gregory XV in 1623, on the condition that these were blessed by a Catholic priest. Historian Charles Ralph Boxer observed: The Bamonnsin general, consider their caste system to be an Indian class form of social categorisation. Since their concept is divorced from all the religious elements associated to it by their Hindu counterparts, they tend to justify their maintenance of caste as a form of social stratification similar to the Western class concept. Traditionally, they are an endogamous group and have refrained from inter-marriage with Catholics of other castes. However, while the Bamonns never inter-married or mingled with the low caste Sudirs, Mahars, and Chamars, the statutes and norms of the Roman Catholic church restrained them from discriminating against the latter. Although most now carry Portuguese surnames, they have retained knowledge about their paik such as Bhat, Kamat, Nayak, Pai, Prabhu, Shenoy, and Shet. The konkanised variants of these surnames are Bhôtt, Kāmot, Nāik, Poi, Porbų , Šeņai, and Šet. Mudartha is a unique surname to be found among some Bamonn families that hail from Udupi district in Karnataka. There is also a minority population of Saarodi, but Bamonns constitute the largest caste in the Mangalorean Catholic community. Most Mangalorean Catholic Bamonn families trace their patrilineal descent to Goud Saraswat Brahmins, with a small minority to Daivadnya Brahmins. There were a few historical instances in the Mangalorean Catholic community, wherein some Anglo-Indians were admitted into the Bamonn fold by Catholic priests. Their descendants are known as Pulputhru Bamonns. A 1976 genetic analysis study conducted on three groups of Saraswat Brahmins and one group of Goan CatholicBamonns in Western India, confirmed the historical and ethnological evidence of a relationship between Goan Catholic Bamonns and Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins. The study further revealed that intergroup differences between the subject groups suggested a genetic closeness, with genetic distance ranging from 0.8 to 1.5.
In her poem entitled de Souza Prabhu, the Goan poet Eunice de Souza muses about her Bamonn heritage:
The main protagonist of Mangalorean writer Richard Crasta’s erotic novel The Revised Kamasutra, is Vijay Prabhu, a small town, middle classBamonn youth living in Mangalore during the 1970s. Filled with erotic longing and a deep desire to flee staunchly conservative Mangalore, he embarks on a sexual and spiritual odyssey that eventually lands him in the relatively liberal United States.
The protagonists of Konkani novelist, V.J.P. Saldanha’s novels such as Balthazar from the novel, Belthangaddicho Balthazar, Sardar Simaon and Sardar Anthon from Devache Kurpen, Salu and Dumga Peenth from Sordarachim Sinol are Bamonns. A few characters such as Jaculo Pai and Monna Kamath from Sordarachim Sinol, Sardar Simaon Pedru Prabhu, Sardar Anthon Paul Shet and Raphael Minguel Kamath from Devache Kurpen have evidently Brahmin surnames.
Antonio Gomes' debut novelThe Sting of Peppercorns focuses on the trials and tribulations faced by the de Albuquerques, a Bamonn family from Loutolim in Salcette. The family is headed by its patriarch Afonso de Albuquerque, a namesake of the conqueror of Goa to whom the family is linked through legend. Apart from him, it consists of his wife Dona Isabella, their two sons Paulo and Roberto, their daughter Amanda, an aunt Rosita noted for her cooking skills, ayah Carmina, and several servants who live on the de Albuquerque estate.
Shakuntala Bharvani's novel Lost Directions features a minor Goan Bamonn character, Donna Bolvanta-Bragança. She is a fervent Catholic who takes pride in her Brahmin heritage, scornfully reprimanding the protagonist Sangeeta Chainani for mistaking her to be an Anglo-Indian. When Chainani innocently inquires as to how she can call herself a Brahmin while adhering to Roman Catholicism, her inquiry is contemptuously dismissed by the character.
